Transportation Stuff
Sitemap Various Transportation System Stuff * see also Transportation_Systems --- --- --- --- --- Getting Around : The buildings/plazas making up Rapture are linked in general by steetways (at 'ground' level) with some buildings that stand off using connecting tunnels. The major streetways have trolley lines to allow residents to cover intermediate distances efficiently (or did). Longer trips were via Bathyspheres (taxis) and Atlantic Express (BS2 map showed only part of that system since Ryan Amusements shown covered about 1/3 of the area and its too small a system for such a main artery of the city). Tall buildings have elevators to cover the vertical distances 20 - 40 floors (though Bathysphere stops could be on roofs and in middles of buildings). Every building has an airlock in the basement at seabed level. There are connecting ways between many adjacent building high above 'street level'. Submarine : * The docking adaptors (the full docking bays were only in certain places due to their complexity) * Private subs were available (even 'luxury' models) long ago, so there are probably more than a few still to be found. Many small ones were the size of the Metro Bathyspheres to make common use of Metro facilities. * City Council offers a bounty for these critical vehicles (and for any spare parts) * Snakes on a sub !? * Long distance sea travel to the extended parts of Rapture (many outlying industrial stations) * Short range subs use batteries or compressed air 'fuel' fed from the City utilities(long range units must 'surface' to recharge or for longer trips) * Subs used in the fishing fleet and some construction. * The big subs were over 300 feet long, but most are much smaller with shorter ranges Rapture Metro - Bathyspheres : * Get those Metro stations working - the automatics slowly working again. * Piloting skills and sharing 'rides' (not all the automatics work yet) * Where all the Bathyspheres went when Ryan locked down the city (more are being 'found' every day) * Leasing one from the City - convenience to your 'project area' (time is money, and walking takes time) * Frequent maintenance for these vehicles/stations means more than a few city (and private) jobs are available to those with proper skills. The Metro double airlock systems need alot of work to keep them running smoothly. * The old MetroWay lanes are being cleared to extend the system (more Diver Suit jobs). * What to do when they go wrong (and they do sometimes) - how to call for rescue... * "Can I bring a wheel barrow full of stuff on a Metro Bubble-Taxi??" - limited space in the Bathyspheres. * Main Metro stations have multiple loading bays and airlock queues Trolleys - 'Street level' transport (The Bulk of the METRO system) : * Main streets have a grid of trolley lines criss-crossing the city and between important sources of traffic. * Trolley barns at central location (for repairs and storage) * Regular daily service and rush-hour extra units run (not yet quite what Rapture had in its 'Hey Day'). * Usable in controlled 'safe' areas. Extending existing lines requires clearing the tracks and restoring the power grid. * Numerous trolley units were destroyed in civil war era, many were used as residences by Splicers. Salvage and rebuilding under way. * Nighttime freight service done while streets are largely empty. Atlantic Express - Main cross city routes : * Some water passages (requiring large airlocks), and thru closed air tunnels in many other places (not really shown in BS2). * Operates generally below street/foundation level in the city. * Main shops, yards and some maintenance facilities are largely intact. Many external routes heavily damaged. * Freight units for moving large volumes of goods. * Major repairs are needed to extend the few segments still operational (ie- the segments you saw in BS2) Trams - Small slow tracked transport, run hidden below Street level : * Most run along utility ways to facilitate maintenance. * Electric (overhead and battery) and compressed gas powered in flame hazard areas. * Tramway tunnels under the main 'streets' alongside all the utilities and sewers. * Most equipment/machines are sized to fit the tramways. * Also used to haul garbage to disposal sites. * Some lines ran to industrial/manufacturing sites and hauled both workers and freight (including raw materials) * Chicago had such a system built around 1900 which was used to hall freight/coal/garbage/ashes under the city buildings and acting as a conduit for telephone cables. --- --- --- Walking : There will be more 'climbable' obstacles that the player has to learn how to handle (you wont get far if you cannot find your way thru wreckage). Ladders/ropes/chains and other mechanism will offer more 'upward' mobility than was seen in BS1/BS2. Of course that also means you have to be more careful of falling. There will be more doors to be forced open and debris that has to be removes to allow passage - difficulty and effort may vary. Watch out for doors showing evidence of flooding on the other side. If there is a door it will lead someplace, unlike games with 'the fake doors that wont open' and 'Locked' or 'You cannot activate this item' (and especially no "you do not have this quest" stupidity). More closed in/tight places - crawling and narrow openings. Going thru the vents in places inaccessible otherwise. More Trapdoors and access hatches to go thru. In some spots you should be able to traverse the space between the Inner walls and the Outer structural wall (with a logical restriction on movement and activities and maybe getting stuck). There will probably be a number of camouflaged/hidden/secret doors that will need to be spotted - with Splicers fighting each other, many learned that not being seen and having hideaways was a prudent measure. Players/NPCs with 'finder' skills will be more likely to spot hidden things like this. --- --- --- Delivery - Sending Things to People/Places : * Pneumo looks like it can handle items about 12 in cubic (or maybe enlogated 12x12x24 in capsules ??) * Send stuff via a delivery guy - Rapture Express - gets there overnight almost guaranteed * Encumbrance rules apply (things that don't fit thru holes don't go thru holes, and heavy things are 'heavy') * Wheel barrows are handy items - people can only carry so much themselves. * Trams used for maintenance work. A simpler system, often the first transport repaired in reclaimed areas. * Trolley and Atlantic Express usable in most repaired parts of city (players will help extend - eventually). * Metro Bathyspheres and Subs to reach cut-off sections of city (until paths can be cut thru the wreckage). * New puzzle - which of all this loot do you want to (can you) carry away? NPCs pushing wheel barrows will be a funny/common sight. --- --- --- --- --- Anton Kinkaide : The founder of the Rapture Metro consolidated the Trolley transportation system linking much of the City of Rapture, and the more exclusive Bathysphere System (for those who could afford it like cabs in modern cities) as well as catering to those with private submarines (mostly the rich and elites. Prentis Mill's AE passenger system component of the Atlantic Express collapsed because it could not compete, and was bought out and shut down by Kinkaide (leaving the AE freight operations still running). --- --- --- Metro System Map (Trains/Trams/Bathysheres/etc...) Overall (Big) Rapture Map ---- External Transport - Rapture's Location is 1500 miles from Nova Scotia : ''' Seaplanes flying to Rapture for 'regular' small deliveries (the North Atlantic Ocean is NOT a calm environment most of the time). Parachute drops are problematic (Used only in high-priority situations like Antibiotic delivery for Crotch-Rot when a ADAM based therapy is still months away ...)) A Transshipping base of operations would be needed for any smaller planes used. A large portion of Ryan's remaining 'Surface' organization was likely located in the United States. The usual cover story to maintain secrecy would be applied. Special deliveries likely continued even AFTER Rapture was "cut-off" from the Surface in 1952 (critical materials and information) This was used to make shipments of more powerful weapons and AMMO to bolster Ryan's security forces against the crazies and terrorists threatening within the City after the Kashmir Massacre. ---- '''AE Switching Hub diagram (left side) Simplest mechanism (lowest maintenance and highest reliability) is a time-tested conventional railroad style 'bridge' turntable (except with a overhead monorail support structure). The Turntable rotates allowing reversing the heading of the traincars and matching up to a large number of tracks (that radiate from its center) the traincar can be transferred to. Diagram shows ~50 ft 12 track version (if the radius was increase to ~70ft then it could fit 16 tracks) Tracks radiate out to : either access paths to the station(inbound/outbound), workshop/repair/service facilities or car storage bays. It is nonsensical that such a turntable was used as a 'switch'/'hub' to align traincars for a whole bunch of different routes. Any routes would be accessed via the Atlantic Express Depot station to load/unload passengers or thru to the 'Freightyard' for all freight operations (disconnected after the Mk2 conversion). Because the layout is flat, the whole facility would be laid out in a horizontal fashion (though if needed, the track can go fairly steep 'ramps' to match a required height - preferably before any passengers are aboard). The Depot facility was designed to service a much larger system than what is left by BS2 times (you hardly need more than a handful of cars to service the mile and a quarter of track route that is left.) The 'hub' is left over from the early days before the changeover to the newer Mk2 track for equipment that then traversed the rest of Rapture. If you look out the windows at 'Paupers Drop' (previously named 'Sinclair Deluxe' and long before that 'Maintenance Junction 17') you can see alot of abandoned Mk1 equipment lying on the seabed. Some of the old passenger units were converted for industrial use for at least one raw material processing site (where recycled Mk1 track were also used). The Mk2 facilities (that we never saw) were much larger and serviced 100+ traincars/freight locomotives as well as several hundred freight cars for the operations in Rapture and out to the outlying industrial sites and communities. It was simpler to build additional facilities than to try to enlarge the existing buildings to match the larger Mk2 traincars, as well as allowing the old facilities to continue to be used to keep the remaining Mk1 system in operation. Odd that the turntable (as seen in BS2) is wrecked/clogged with broken Mk1 traincars when the Short Line to Fontaine Futuristics is still operating (these cars do not seem to be designed for bi-directional movement). Funny/pathetic, if they (the 'Rapture Family') are down to running the units in reverse to take them back the opposite direction (explained by deteriorating state of everything else within Lamb's grasp). One more thing for the New Rapturians to clean/fix up. This style of turntable (minus most of the radiating tracks) could be used at end-of-route tracks to 'turn' the traincars for their return trip (much like whats used on the few remaining Real Life Cable Car systems). They would be far less work to build (and take up less space) than providing a turning wye or loop of track. They could also serve as a compact 'switch' for a few local freight tracks at the location. The end-of-track at Abyss Overlook would likely be set up with a turntable. The AE Depot 'Shops' would also have some 'freight' tracks used to handle various equipment shipped in for repairs. RR installation like this often had the largest fabrication equipment/machinery (not really shown in the game) to maintain their equipment (and to make new parts if required) and usually built/repaired large machinery as a secondary source of business. That might explain part of the reason the Mk1 system wasn't completely abandoned during the Mk2 conversion. Note - The later Mk2 Freight locomotives were designed to operate equally well in either direction (like modern diesel locomotives) to largely eliminate the need for 'turning'. Metro Cable line Turns (Lighthouse to Welcome Center) : The Bathysphere routes are mostly straight lines between stations because of the structural complications of changing the double cable's direction and the way the Bathyspheres are attached to the cable. There is a mechanism used by the Bathysphere from the Lighthouse to the Welcome Center route which makes a turn in its path. The rock cliff face the Bathysphere emerges from after descending straight down was not oriented for the planned destination at Welcome Center, and so had to make a 'turn'. The player probably wont notice the structure as it was painted black and the player was busy looking at the impressive view. The 'turn' mechanism is basically a big horizontal wheel (large enough in radius so that a 'sphere moving at near cruising speed (~15 mph) isn't subjected to a roller-coaster-like ride turn). The structure also necessarily supports the weight of the cable (many tons of hanging weight) without fouling the Bathysphere's "grip" on the cable. If that line had been constructed later, it would have been easier to bore a hole all the way thru the mass of rock, but they needed to finish it quickly. The mechanism's extra complexity and maintenance costs made sure that it was the only 'turn' built in the Bathysphere lines. Only a few Metro Cableway routes might have needed this feature, but those routes were instead built with intermediary stations (which also gave access to local transit traffic at more convenient points and more options for destination routings)... ---- This looks like something only a rich person could own. ---- The Diagram also shows Streets (BLACK LINES) connecting various Clusters in Rapture (which would often carry Trolley Tracks throughout the City). --- --- --- Trams - Possible Transport Improvements Can Be Overridden by Other Factors : Trams (Trolleys) in Rapture coulda taken an idea from various 'light rail' type mechanisms, and just had rubber wheels and a concrete (guideway) track (many systems in Europe do this today). Far less expensive (now) than more heavyweight Tram systems with their steel tracks (the Tram/Trolleys started out much lighter than what they were by the 40s, and Rapture could make due with smaller car units). Potential for some development would be rubber tired 'buses' (electric powered for pollution control) which could traverse the 'tracks' as well as more free movement on plain 'roads' in Rapture later 'suburbs' (the tunnel expansions added later). The existing 'Trams' are not larger than small buses anyway. * Rubber tires though would be an issue, as in : WHERE DO YOU GET NEW RUBBER IN RAPTURE ??? It wears out and deteriorates faster than steel, and even synthetic (Plastic) rubber is largely made from hydrocarbons (oil) which has its own supply issue. * Having the power pickup be in a slot would simplify from not having a Overhead Wire. * Possibly a moving cable (Cable Car with power unit in one fixed location) similar to the Bathyspheres for a simple point to point line. Simplest if route short and straight. * For small systems Battery powered vehicles likewise could be used (they don't have the many complications which blocked the Atlantic Express trains from being battery powered). There may have been a variety of such transports before the 'Consolidation' done to form the 'Metro' Transit (smaller companies bought up and rebuilt into a standardized/cohesive system). --- --- --- Bicycles (and similar) ''' : ']] . . . . . . . . . . . . '''Bicycles - I saw ad on wall in Fort Frolic (and saw some in Olympus Heights trolley areas) : * I suppose there is enough space on 'Streets' to use them and some Tunnels would be long enough for a proper ride * The 'Stadium' would be large enough for a good ride (a track around the field's edge) * Splicers on Bicycles !!!! Someone probably would have turned some into 'Motor Cycles' ... "The Wild One" all over again. * Motorized bikes (electric can work) * Riding Bicycle into someone intentionally - another anti-griefing endcase to handle. --- --- --- Parking for the 'Private Submarine Craze' : ''' Might need something like this at the Metro Bathysphere stations to handle all those single user 'private' Bathyspheres (which are 'submarines' actually). The only(?) problem is that even the small Bathyspheres (12 foot diameter) weigh near 30 tons. Maybe it could work as an underwater mechanism (where the buoyancy neutralizes most of the weight and the selected vehicle only is hrought to the waters surface for loading). You better remember to roll up your windows after you get out at the top of that stack (above the water surface). --- --- --- '''Moving Walkways in Rapture ? : NOTE - This mechanism was actually used at the 1893 Columbian Exposition (and better at a later Paris Exposition). Even with clusters of buildings and systems like the Trolley's offering 'Street' connections, a convenient short distance transport was seen as needed in a few locations. Solution - the Moving Walkway (The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 had them, so the technology was nothing new or difficult.) Of course, you have to pay(turnstile), but convenient saving on alot of walking was useful to many people. They generally work best in long linear or circular paths. Example would have been in place of that ridiculous Trolley stuff around Olympus Heights, which IF they were really that SHORT, would have been ludicrously pointless. Reorganizing the maps for the MMORPG, those Streets would be changed to be a much greater distance and the Trolley tracks would have connected THROUGH that central plaza probably with a center main stop/hub (probably on a separate lower 'transit' level). --- --- --- Facilities Make The 'Trains Run Ontime' : Carbarn for Trolleys - The Metro was a large system - originally there would be at least 100 trolley cars needed for Rapture's 'Rush Hour', and more to serve as replacements and those being repaired/maintenanced. Trolley Carbarns were de-centralized to be close to the lines/routes they served (There were originally several trolley companies before the buyouts and Metro merger). New Rapture would be rebuilding this system (for the sectors in Rapture it controls) as fast as possible to bring back efficient public transportation for the Citizens. Fortunately, Trolley systems are fairly simple technologically (dates back to the 1880s) and it is more an issue of clearing debris and repairing the damaged Trolley cars. Automatic operation can wait til later. The Atlantic Express Depot has the major repair facilities for the AE train system (one of the reasons it was 'reclaimed' early for New Rapture - to make use of its machinery and repair equipment, and to deny its use to the remains of 'the Rapture Family'). It was also a major transportation hub for the city. The 'Family' faction's influence largely had disintegrated at the AE Depot, being so far from the rest of Sofia Lamb's old Collectivist Realm. 'Johnny' (Delta's clone) was fully capable of leading a 'mop up' operation of the few that were left, and then securing it. Full restoration of the AE system is a substantial task, but important to New Rapture's future. --- --- --- ' "They promised us Hovercars!!" - Red Forman ': Well, in Rapture small hovercars for use along the tramway 'streets' could well be done. EXCEPT A Significant problem is the huge amount of noise they usually make (and the rubbish they blow around). Another is burning polluting fuels to run their motors, though clean(er) fuels might be possible (any suggestion of ELECTRIC ones being a VERY POOR idea). Of course, the same would be true for automobiles and motorbikes (unclean air beyond just C02 inside a closed building ...) Electric battery golfcarts ? Their limited/short-distance capabilities make them generally insufficient. 'Just Say No To Hovercraft' --- --- --- --- --- . .